A Feast for the Eyes and Inspiration for the Gardener

     Our neighbor, William, designed and installed a beautiful garden in Roanoke this year at a home called "Oak Knoll". It was the highlight of this year's garden tour for which William kindly gave us tickets. There were six homes in total on the tour, but Oak Knoll was definitely the princess. In my opinion, the misty rain and low hanging clouds only made the gardens more beautiful. I love a garden in the rain. 
     You can read a little bit about Oak Knoll and the other homes on the tour HERE. The home interiors were open to the tour as well, which was very generous of the homeowners considering the amount of heavy foot traffic and the wet weather. I noticed they wisely covered floors and carpets in plastic. We mainly skipped the interiors because they were very crowded and we really preferred to see the gardens anyway. 
     Oak Knoll is built into a steep hillside and takes up the space of seven building lots. It has a grand view and truly is a beautiful estate. William did an amazing job on the garden design and the homeowners added an abundance of potted plants. Here are a few of my favorite shots.

The long sweep of garden rooms along the back of the house

Potted pants at the kitchen door. There was an identical arrangement on the opposite side of the door.

From the patio looking out to the front of the house

Looking along the back of the house from the potting shed over the garage.

Pot, pots...

... and more pots